Government & Elections

Are New Voter Identification Laws Fair?

Stricter laws, critics say, could disenfranchise older voters

June 12, 2012|Comments: 0

En Español |Democracy is founded on the right to vote. But in the United States, each state makes its own laws about how voting is conducted. Since the 2010 election, 14 state legislatures have passed stricter voter ID laws. Thirty-two states now require voters to show some sort of identification before casting a ballot; in some cases that means a government-issued photo ID.

Advocates of the laws claim they reduce voter fraud. Opponents say there is little evidence of such fraud, and the laws impose a challenging barrier to voting for older Americans and other groups. The controversy heated up recently when the U.S. Justice Department, citing the 1965 Voting Rights Act, blocked new voter ID laws from taking effect in South Carolina and Texas.